


Prepositional

by Avivi



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors
Genre: Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Lost Woods, Other Links are mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:34:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26545318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avivi/pseuds/Avivi
Summary: It is in the very nature of the Lost Woods to mix the when and where of occurrences together until they become indistinguishable.Those we are among can clear out the fog and make the difference clear once more. While elements of the occurrences may appear to be the same, our relationships can reveal the lack of a strict isomorphism.Or, Warriors flashback time in the Lost Woods.
Relationships: Time & Warriors (Linked Universe)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 92





	Prepositional

**Author's Note:**

> For LU Discord Weekly Prompt: Shake it Up Week 2!  
> I'm shaking it up by writing a non-technical document for the first time in 3 years.
> 
> (Also catch a shameless plug to Among Us)

The group stood past the arch’s threshold and gazed out at the fog that stretched into the distance.

“Wild,” Warriors began, brushing his scarf to the side as if trying to fan away some of the dense coverage. “When you said that the Great Deku Tree was close by, what _exactly_ did you mean by that?”

“Oh! We’re super close. We’re right by the Korok Forest which is where the Deku Tree and a bunch of koroks live. We just have to cut through the Lost Woods reallllll quick---”

Multiple groans arose from the group, effectively cutting Wild off. The Lost Woods. While not everyone in the party had dealt with a version of the Woods in their own Hyrule, the stories of stalfos transformations and confusing directions told by those who had were enough to make them a rather unappealing location.

So, yes, having to journey into another version of the Woods wasn’t exactly anyone’s idea of a good time. Unfortunately, Wild’s Zelda had advised that they seek out some of the older powers of the world to investigate the cause of the black blood. With the Great Deku Tree existing in some fashion across various eras, there really was no better option than for them to continue on.

Warriors exhaled, resigned to their current path. “Okay, things do tend to be a bit extreme in your Hyrule, so what should we expect in your Lost Woods?” he asked Wild. Far better to be prepared for any possible enemies or general headache than to walk in blind.

“Well, the first time I came here I, uh, had just shot an arrow _or was it three_ at a blademaster and took off running right into the fog and totally got lost at least seven times but hey the Yiga got lost too so no problem I guess. The _really_ fun thing to do here is to jump from the nearest tower and see how far you can get through the treetops before the fog swallows you up.”

Wild’s statement was met with Twilight burying his face in his hands and exasperated groans from the other heroes. If anything this seemed to encourage Wild even more, as he gave a toothy smile before going on.

“The thing is, the Woods aren’t even _that_ bad once you figure out the trick to navigating them. So you can just run off path for as long as possible before BOOM instant reset. Now, if y’all would actually let me use the Sheikah Slate to just _warp_ us in we wouldn’t even need to have this conversation.”

“Cub, from what you’ve said before the multiple people warpin’ thing is still in development and it ain’t fixin’ ta work anytime soon.”

A tale had been told, at one point, of Wild and his Zelda’s many Trials of the Sheikah Slate. To say the very least, the experimental results had been...varied if Symin’s horror and Purah’s elation at the subject had said anything. Increased radius of destruction for remote bombs, increased magnetic field strength for the magnesis rune, and increased teleport ability with only the slight chance of having all parties ripped apart at the quantum level.

Though he would never say it out loud and thus embolden the gremlin to continue with his experiments, Warriors did find the notion of the teleport ability to be rather interesting.

During the war it would have allowed for an additional method of travel beyond the owl statues (really, the time lost with each instance of playing the ocarina and traveling in the cyclone did add up over the course of each battle). Keeps could be jumped between in the blink of an eye if they were designated as warp points and being able to transport multiple people would do wonders for field medicine.

“We best be on our way then,” Time stated, rousing Warriors from his thoughts and preventing Wild from attempting to justify the use of unfinished warp technology. “There’s no point in delaying the inevitable, and we have no way of knowing when we’ll switch Hyrules next.”

He glanced at Wild. “We’ll have you lead the way. Everyone else, buddy up. Stay within each other’s line of sight. For all we know the wild child might just be immune to the effects of the Woods, so try not to _run off path_.”

With that, the group followed Wild into the fog. A short path was lit with torches that came to an abrupt stop.

“Okay, this next bit has no torches, so make sure to take the same path as me. We’re just following the direction of the wind, but if you get distracted then you might veer off path.”

Wind moved closer to Warriors as they continued carefully following the hidden path. Warriors looked past the group at the twisted branches surrounding them. The wind whispered its way through the mouths of the trunks, jaws open wide as if waiting for an unfortunate passerby to fall in.

“-ssssssss”

Wind kept pace with him as the wind grew stronger still. A constant pitch, gliding along the conversation happening around him.

“-ssssssssssssss”

The shuffling of feet next to him kept time as they weaved between the trees. Marching on and on and on. Each step adds a beat, dividing up the fermata of the wind’s tone into separate measures.

“Usssssssssssssss”

The word forms, the jangling and clunking and creaking of their swords, their shields, their armor birthing it into the world to be met with a friend? A foe?

“A--ng ussssssssssss”

The voices of his fellow heroes fade fully into static, his gear bearing down more and more and heavier and heavier; the wind solidifying into a single, clear phrase, suddenly bearing down more than his gear ever could.

“Among us.”

The Lost Woods become the Faron Woods and the winds of Farore push the bearer of the Triforce of Courage down and six feet under with an epitaph reading, _“There is an imposter among us.”_

* * *

“There is an imposter among us.”

The general continued with her whispered accusation. “This path was meant to be secured; we never should have encountered Cia’s forces here. Somehow, some way, confidential information was leaked.”

Impa straightened, staring out at the squadron. Link followed her gaze, just as troubled. Mask and Proxi were flitting around between various injured soldiers, quick to hand out bandages and potions to those in need. The attack had come out of nowhere, with a simple supply run turning into a full force enemy skirmish.

“More turncoats?” he questioned. “I thought we dealt with that in the Era of the Chosen Hero. Wasn’t Ghirahim responsible for their appearance?”

“That act of coercion simply revealed the inner thoughts of the aforementioned soldiers. War tends to create splits beyond each side of the battle. Honored fighters, ambitious ensigns, and treacherous allies all on the same side. One push and the stack of cards falls apart.”

Mask waved to Link with a handful of bandages, swiftly catching his attention before pointing at the soldier next to him. “Well, it looks like I’ve been summoned.” He nodded at Impa before fully turning in Mask’s direction and softly calling over his shoulder. “I’ll be sure to stay on the lookout for any jokers in the deck. With one of our honored fighters being a child, well, I can never be on watch for long enough.”

Link crossed the short distance to Mask and the soldier reclined on the tree. The soldier, Jameson if Link remembered correctly, had a jagged cut running down his upper arm.

Mask pointed at the soldier once more. “He needs stitches on his arm before I give him a potion. We’re starting to run low, so we probably shouldn’t use a full one here.”

Nodding in agreement, Link grabbed the nearby suture kit and quickly started on the stitches. “Well, Jameson, what happened here?”

Jameson pointedly looked away from the needle and thread, tilting his head in the direction of yet another soldier. “Lieutenant Theon and I were holding off a group of bokoblins from some of the supply carts. One of the ‘blins got a lucky hit in on me. I think the Lieutenant took a hit or two as well, so I’d look at him when you’re done here.”

“The wound doesn’t look too bad, so it won’t take too long to finish. Mask, you were right to suggest stitches rather than using a full potion. Our supplies also took a few hits, so we’ll have to take care to ration things out.”

“Proxi’s still passing stuff out,” Mask said joining the conversation. “I can help put on the wrap here so you can look at Theon.”

“Good lad,” Jameson smiled in response. “And rather skilled on the field. I couldn’t even see where you were half of the time before you landed the final blow on an enemy.”

Mask smiled. “I’m just happy that I get to fight along with big brother! Proxi’s really cool too, just like every fairy! And I get to use my masks which is also fun!”

Jameson laughed as Link grinned and shook his head while finishing up the final stitches. “That you do. I wonder if my little sister would like one.”

“Oooh. She could pull a lot of pranks if she had one!”

“...on second thought maybe getting her a mask wouldn’t be the best idea.”

“But pranks are fun!”

“Not when you’re the one they’re being pulled on.”

“Then you just have to get go---”

“Okayyyy.” Link cut in. “Not that this debate isn’t interesting, but Jameson is ready for that bandage and potion now, Mask.”

Link picked himself up before continuing. “I’ll go check on Theon now. Jameson, keep an eye on Mask.”

“Yes, sir, Captain, sir.”

With the sound of the prank argument picking back up in the background, Link walked over to Theon. Jameson’s earlier assessment seemed to be correct. The Lieutenant had bandages sitting heavily on his wrist and there was a sluggishly bleeding laceration visible under his rolled up trousers.

“The stitching service has arrived.”

Theon smirked, looking up at Link. “And not a moment too soon. I took a glancing blow to my arm but already wrapped it. Leg wound’s giving me a bit of trouble, though.”

“Well I can help with that,” Link said, unrolling the kit once again before sitting down to start the process. “Jameson told me what happened. Good thing you two were guarding those carts, or else we would have lost a lot more supplies. Mask will finish fixing him up, so don’t worry about him.”

“Yeah, Jameson will be alright. To be honest, I’m more worried about the kid. He has to see all of this mess. Jameson has a sister of his own back home around the same age, and I can’t imagine having what it’s like for someone that age to have to fight.”

Link hummed, continuing with the patch job. “Jameson mentioned his sister earlier. Says he might get her a mask of her own, which ended up sparking a debate about pranks.”

He frowned a bit. “But in regards to your point, as much as I may want to, I know that I’m just as likely to keep Mask from fighting as I am to keep him from pulling pranks. It’s a shame, but he’s stubborn.” Link cleared his throat. “Anyways enough of that talk. Jameson has his sister, but what about you? Got anyone waiting back home?”

Theon smiled, a slightly dreamy look on his face. “I moved away from my family to join the army early on, but there was this girl, Mel, at the tailor’s shop in Castletown. Beautiful, kind, and always willing to talk when I stopped by. I asked her out one day, and we’ve been seeing each other ever since. I meant to, but never did get around to proposing before the war started in full.”

“When this is all over you should,” Link said, finishing the final stitch with a flourish. “I can tell just by looking at you how much you love her. Okay, you should be good to wrap that up now.”

“Well I’ll be!” Theon exclaimed, looking at the sealed wound. “You can sew almost as well as she can!”

“Don’t flatter me. I’m sure I’ve got nothing on your girl.”

They both broke out into laughter, before Theon’s face turned down a bit. “It’s a shame. I think you and her would’ve gotten along rather well.”

Link startled, staring at the Lieutenant. “Wait, you don’t mean…”

“Yes,” Theon trailed off. “Yes, she’s dead. I found out when we were all picking up supplies from Castletown for transport. Went to catch a glimpse of her through the window and the shopkeeper came outside and told me.”

“How…?”

Theon grimaced. “She went to go visit her parents in the countryside. Some dark forces attacked her village, but with all of our troops so busy, there was no one left to defend them.”

Link closed his eyes and slowly opened them again, shaking his head. “I’m so sorry. I wish…”

“It’s okay,” with a soft, strangled laugh, Theon carried on. “It’s not like you could have done anything when it happened.”

“Still…”

“No. If I could change anything, it would be that I could’ve seen her at least one more time. But I know I can’t. And there’s nothing you could have done either.”

With a heavy heart, Link stood once again. “You’re right. I’m still sorry, though. If you need anything...” He shook his head. “Make sure to get that bandaged, Lieutenant. She’d want you to be okay.”

He took a few steps towards Impa before Theon spoke up.

“Actually, Captain, I think there is something you can do.”

Link turned to face Theon. “What is it?”

“I can never see her again, but you can do it for me.” His downturned face turned into an empty glare.

“Pardon?” Link asked as Theon suddenly slid a knife from under the bandages on his wrist straight into Link’s chest.

He gasped, falling to his knees as the air rushed out of his lungs. Breathlessly, ”why?”

“Look at you, the shining Hero of Hyrule. You’re just another dog in service to the crown,” Theon’s voice, previously so full of love, had turned dark with hatred. “You think they care about the common folk, but they don't. A village was attacked and no one defended it. And what happened with Mel wasn't even a singular occurrence.”

Growing louder, he continued. “If the crown won’t help us, why should we help them? This isn’t our war, and I should have had the sense to see that before now. I can only be happy that we managed to largely stop this supply run.”

Link looked at the turncoat in shock that only intensified when a naginata appeared at the man’s neck.

“Sense, imposter?” Impa coldly questioned. “Tell me, what is sensical about attacking your fellow soldier in broad daylight.”

“Oh, he’s not my fellow soldier. But there are more, what word did you use? Imposters? Here with me.”

With those words, fighting suddenly erupted throughout the camp. Mask and Jameson, having finally realized what was going on along with everyone else, sprinted over as Theon jumped backwards to join the fight with his fellow traitors.

Link coughed, blood trickling out of his mouth. “He’s a real joker, isn’t he? General, don’t stop for me. Go!”

Impa took off after Theon as Mask and Jameson slid across the ground on their knees before coming to a halt next to him.

“Link! Link, no, no, no!” Mask cried as he all but forced Link to drink the meager remnants of the potion used on Jameson’s wound. Crimson blood and scarlet potion blended together as Link continued to gasp for breath.

Roles now reversed, Jameson grabbed the suture kit as Mask screamed for Proxi to bring a potion. Somehow, the screams tapered off into whispers as it became harder and harder to breath.

“Big brother, please!”

The sobs faded into silence, as the fog became heavier and heavier, blocking his hearing, his breathing. It became solid, and everything turned dark.

* * *

A light breeze dances through the darkness. It gains strength, the wind pushing the darkness back more and more, lowering the opacity until it becomes a mere fog once more.

“Hey, Wars!” He startled, looking up to see Wind looking at him with a question on his face. “Were you listening?”

Warriors shook himself out of the remnants of his memories and the fog. “Sorry. I guess I got, as the name of this place implies, a bit lost in my head.”

Wind laughed. “I guess it is easy to do that here. But look! We’re right at the entrance to the Korok Forest! There are so many koroks!”

The wind whistles through the clearing that is indeed filled with a rather ridiculous amount of koroks. “Didn’t you want to play games with them? Why don’t you go do that?”

Wind gave a whoop before running to grab Wild and continuing on to a circle of koroks. Warriors stayed where he was as the rest of the Links followed after the two into the new area.

“So, lost in your head?”

Warriors turned to see Time next to him with a quirked eyebrow. “You know how it is, Old Man. A little bit of daydreaming while walking through the woods.”

Time hummed before speaking again. “The Lost Woods do tend to make the dreaming part easier. My own Woods always had the tendency to loop you round and round again until you found the correct path. All you really had to do was listen and discern the truth. Then, you are able to differentiate between the dream,” he glanced at Warriors, “and the nightmare. Wanna run that _daydream_ by me again?”

Warriors let out a chuckle. “Nothing gets past you, does it?” He shook his head slightly. “I just...something about the forest just made me think about the war and I got a bit caught up in a memory.”

They followed after their fellow travelers before finding a log and sitting off to the side.

“Wars, you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Time started, “but you can talk about it if you want to.”

It was so...easy to get caught up in the memories of the war. The battlefield extended far beyond the reaches of his Hyrule and seemed to exert its poison wherever he went. But here he was, with someone who knew that experience. _If you need anything…_ His own words, given to a one time ally, echoed in those of Time.

He sighed and began talking. “Do you remember that time we were on a supply run in the Faron Woods and a group of turncoats revealed themselves?”

Time shifted and threw an arm across Warriors’ back. “It was quite some time ago, but yes. You nearly died, if I remember correctly.”

“I did. I think that was the moment I realized that there are traitors everywhere. Since then...it’s hard not to constantly look over my shoulder and listen for the slightest sound of betrayal.”

Nodding, Time stated, “and that’s a problem even now, with people that have your same spirit.”

Warriors chuckled again in an acknowledgement of sorts of the statement, the sound hollower this time.

“Well, we can do something about that right now, can’t we? The war will always be a part of us, but the moments we live daily are elements of a different set than the war and can contain so much more that darkness. So, when you look out into the clearing, what do you see? What do you hear?”

He turned his gaze forward. Legend and Four both sat leaning against a tree, reading in silent companionship with the occasional flip of a page. Sky lay asleep across from them letting out soft snores, with a group of koroks acting as a guard of sorts around him. Anytime another Link neared him, the koroks would bunch together and whisper something about Mr. Hero having to sleep until nighttime.

In another section of the forest, Twilight and Hyrule were doubled over laughing as Wild and Wind shot target after target. Somehow, after only drawing one arrow, three shot out with the snap of the bow string. More koroks cheered around them as the two pulled off more and more ridiculous looking shots.

Observing all of this, Warriors stated simply. “I see and hear allies.”

“Exactly.” Time smiled at the response. “You are with allies, and you can trust in that. There aren’t any turncoats lurking behind you with a raised sword, nor an imposter hidden behind a happy face.”

Warriors took a deep breath and let it out. The air here was easy to breathe, clear of fog and filled with the sounds of his friends. He smiled, leaning his head on Time’s shoulder.

“ **It’s okay** , _big brother! We’re here_ \--- you’re among friends --- **now**.”

The then and the now. Similar in all the ways that mattered. Then, filled with difficult fights and turncoats, but also with allies he had to this day, no matter how much time it had been for some. Now, filled with uncertainty about the black blood and questions that only older powers could answer, but also empathetic brothers.

While he may not know what the future holds, he’ll carry on, pushed by the same winds that carried their laughter through the trees.


End file.
